In 1964, the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, drafted a short treatment of a science-fiction television series he called Star Trek. It would be set on board a spaceship in the 23rd century, with a crew who would be exploring a portion of the galaxy.

Star Trek was part soap opera, part western, all adventure.

The first regular episode of Star Trek,The Man Trap, aired on September 8, 1966. The last original episode aired on June 3, 1969.

The show that was “too cerebral” has become iconic, dare I say, even legendary.

My introduction to Star Trek came with The Next Generation. The hype surrounding this show was incredible, but what I remember most was hearing about fans of the original series losing their minds because a Klingon would be on the Enterprise’s bridge.

I watched the first episode of The Next Generation mostly out of sheer curiosity; I was HOOKED from episode 1 and watched every episode until the series finale.

It was many years later before I watched the The Original Series. It took a few episodes to realize how damn brilliant the show really was. The bridge was comprised of a white captain, a Vulcan first officer, a black communications officer, a Slavic navigator and an Asian helmsman. By today’s standards it looks very normal, but this crew was put together in 1966, a time when equal rights weren’t equal for everybody and diversity was only a word in a dictionary.

It really was groundbreaking, but I’ve no doubt many jaws dropped hard when the first episode aired.

I can’t tell you why other people love the show, but I know why I do. Roddenberry showed us that all species, all races, all genders can work together for a common goal; he gave us hope that we do have a future.

Roddenberry’s vision of the future was ahead of his time, but 50 years later, in a world of increased mass shootings and terrorism, it’s a great idea whose time has come.